


Writers Block

by JenniferThornbeck



Category: Original Work
Genre: AU, Antique, Be Careful What You Wish For, Eventually Everyone has to Grow Up, F/M, Feelings of Unappreciation, Immaturity, Internal Pity Parties, Karma - Freeform, Lies, Magic pen, Manipulation, Mundane Existence, Plans For The Future, Sci-fi-ish, The Bad You Do Is Going To Bite You In The Ass, Tired of a boring life, Wishes, Writing, Writing the Future, fixing mistakes, greed - Freeform, peter pan syndrome
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-08
Updated: 2020-01-08
Packaged: 2021-02-27 05:27:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,257
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22171798
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JenniferThornbeck/pseuds/JenniferThornbeck
Summary: Evan finds a pen.  A special pen that he uses to get what he wants.  When things come to an end, Evan finally realizes that what he really wants was there all along.
Kudos: 2





	Writers Block

“I’m just an ordinary guy. That’s all I’ve ever been. Just your average Joe. I work, come home, drink a few beers to relax. On the weekends, I hang out with my friends or I sit home and watch movies. I don’t ask for much. Yep, that’s me, just your average Joe.”

Oliver, who always gave Evan his morning banana nut muffin and coffee, shot him a bemused look and nodded as he handed $5.36 back in change. 

Evan took his change and dumped it into the tip jar as his took a sip of coffee, nodding to Elise as he passed. Elise, his co-worker from Marketing was three people back in the line he just left. “See you at the office,” she called out to him just like she did every morning.

The first half of his day was uneventful. Two computers crashed after they were rebooted. Evan loaded everything back on within twelve minutes, he could have done it with his eyes closed. After that, it was another nineteen minutes setting up passwords for a new hire in Accounting. Evan tried to make small talk with him, but the guy – Brad, ignored him and began taking his personal things out of a box and arranging them on his new desk.

“Well, you’re all set, Brad,” he added with a smile as he stood up. To Evan’s surprise, the jerk just rudely sat down in the chair and muttered something he couldn’t hear real well, but sounded like “Yeah, yeah, yeah, whatever.”

He walked slowly back to the IT department while he checked his phone – Jodie left a voicemail: “Hey Evan. I want you to meet me for lunch at the antique store today. I saw the perfect dining table and chairs that I want to get. It won’t take long, then we’ll stop for a sandwich.”

Evan deleted the message and sighed. He knew the antique store. Most of their furniture was from that antique store. His old furniture lived in the spare bedroom, courtesy of Jodie. She hated his futons – the one that he used as a sofa and the other one that was used for his bed. Her taste ran to Victorian and Edwardian, heavy and curly covered in dark reds and golds. Evan never felt very comfortable on it. It felt like he was sitting on a museum exhibit.

It only took seven minutes to get there. Jodie stood in front of the door to the antique store. She gave him a wave and went inside.

As he opened the front door a waft of cool air with a hint of either mold or mothballs, he was never sure which, invaded his nostrils. He went towards the back of the store, where he knew from memory the furniture was kept. He turned left at the bookshelf and passed a glass counter and case that kept hatpins, watches, jewelry, and old pens. Evan always stopped to take a look since many a birthday and Valentine’s Day gifts for Jodie came from this case. 

Almost immediately, his eyes were drawn to the pen. It looked nine inches long and made of what appeared to be ruby and sapphire stained glass. Such detailed craftsmanship and delicate work! He didn’t normally like antiques, it’s not that he hated them, he just wasn’t drawn to old stuff usually. But this pen was different, he had to have it. Evan turned from the glass case almost reluctantly, and walked quickly up to the front register to ask the owner, Miss Violet if she could open the case so he could look at the pen. She got the key from a drawer at her desk and walked slowly, but chatted quickly all the way back to the jewelry counter. She found the right key after four tries and took the pen out very carefully with both of her hands and set it on top of the glass. 

“It’s very lovely, isn’t it? This was brought in last week from a nice young woman who inherited it from her grandfather. She told me that the pen doesn’t work and she can’t find a way to open it up and add ink to it,” Miss Violet told a mesmerized Evan with a smile.

Evan picked it up reverently, it fit perfectly in his hand. All he needed was ink and paper. Jodie’s voice startled him. 

“Evan, what are you doing? I’ve been waiting by the table for you all this time.” She looked down at the pen, the lamplight above the counter reflected the red and blue colors on her face.

“It’s great, isn’t it?” Evan asked.

__________________________

Evan admired his pen back at his desk for most of the afternoon, giving it a glance or two in between work. Around 4:30, Evan and Jeff – the IT guy who sat across from him were watching a video of a new program that the company was going to start using next month when Jeff’s phone rang. 

“IT, this is Jeff.”

Evan half listened to Jeff’s end of the conversation. A pause then, “No, we just saw her. She didn’t say anything to me.” 

Pause again. “Hang on.” Jeff took the phone away from his face and turned around in his chair, the look on his face one of total surprise. “Joanna just went upstairs and quit,” he said dumbly.

Evan’s jaw dropped. She had talked with both of them all morning and never mentioned anything about leaving her job. Joanna had been the IT department head for more than six years and Evan never remembered even hearing her complain once about her job, not even in a joke.

“Nope, Evan had no clue either. Did she give a reason?” Jeff turned back around to his computer and shut down the demo that had been up. It would be way too hard to concentrate on anything else for the rest of the day. Evan’s phone rang, his cell phone. He didn’t check to see who it was, but wasn’t surprised that it was Jodie. She usually called around this time of day to see if he wanted to go out or what he wanted for dinner, since she got home an hour before he did. 

“Hey,” he said, shutting down the program demo and closing a few other work-related windows. 

“Hi Evan,” Jodie greeted, but for some reason her voice sounded a little different today.

“Hey Jodie, guess what? Joanna just quit today – without a notice or anything. She just went to the CEO and then walked out.” Jodie had been to many of his company parties and so she knew most of his co-workers.

“Really? That’s too bad. Listen, I know this is a weird time for a talk like this, but I was looking online and found a really cute little house in West Park, It’s got three –“, she began but Evan broke in.

“Come on, Jo-Jo, I’ve told you before, I like _my_ place. I’m not ready to move into a house and get a mortgage. Why don’t we wait a few more years and then see how we feel about it.” Evan was checking his bank account to see how much money he had available. Shit, only $78.00 for another week and a half. He’d have to borrow a little from Jodie tonight. Then he realized that she wasn’t saying anything.

Evan was a typical guy in most things, but one thing made him a little different from most men: he always knew when a woman was angry with him. He also was never stupid enough to ask the question “is anything wrong?” He just stayed quiet and let them decide when to start talking again.

He waited a few minutes for her to respond, unsure of whether she would scream or save that for later.

Her voice was soft, which was always worse than if she was yelling. “All right Evan. You’ve made your point and I will think about it and tell you later what my response is.”

She hung up before Evan could take it all back. He hated Jodie getting angry with him, but talk of getting a mortgage made him feel claustrophobic. Evan put his phone back on his desk and turned back to Jeff, who was eating Fruit Loops – his usual afternoon snack. 

“Wow, I can’t believe Joanna left,” he smacked in between spoonfuls. Jeff leaned back in his chair and propped up his feet on the table that was the barrier between them. “And until a new manager shows up – we’re completely unsupervised.”

Jeff rested the bowl on his stomach and picked up his Samsung Galaxy, probably to go on Facebook. Evan just sat there and waited for the work day to end.

_______________________________________

Dinner sat there cold and uneaten. Jodie was taking a shower while Evan sat at his desk with his journal and his new pen. Anytime he had emotional issues, he wrote them down until he could make sense of them, see them more logically and rationally. When he and Jodie argued, it usually included the questions of “when are you going to grow up” and “don’t you ever plan on committing to me?” This time, she added that she “can’t be happy in a stagnant, going nowhere relationship.”

He picked up the pen and just like in the antique store, it fit perfectly. He had some ink , but couldn’t see where to put it. The nib scratched across the page, a deep indigo line. _Funny_ , he thought. _Miss Violet said that the pen_ _didn’t work_. He shrugged, his mind going blank as he began to write. _Why_ _does she even_ _stay with me?_ _She doesn’t_ _even_ _seem to really_ _love me for_ _myself. She can_ _always_ _leave if she doesn’t_ _care. I’m tired of her screaming_ _“Commit, commit, commit!” That’s_ _all she ever thinks about! Well, maybe I don’t want to commit. Maybe I like things just the way they are. She could always move, then I wouldn’t have to listen to her bitch all the time about how I “act like an angst-ridden adolescent_ ”. _Just go ahead and leave_ _Jodie, and save us both the_ _hassle._

 _Damn_ , he thought, _I’m tired_. He put up his journal in the desk drawer and locked it. Evan kicked off his shoes and fell onto the bed, not even bothering to pull the quilt over his body in the cold room.

The sunlight streamed through the window and woke him up earlier than his alarm clock would have. Why hadn’t Jodie closed the curtains? He shivered and realized that she hadn’t covered him with the quilt. He didn’t smell any coffee or breakfast cooking, so she must still be pissed off. 

“What the hell..,” he muttered and got up out of bed. It was going to be a long weekend. But strangely she wasn’t in the kitchen and the apartment felt different somehow. Evan ran back into the bedroom and opened the closet door. All of her clothes were gone. The hangers empty on her side. Unbelieving, he went back into the living room, a sinking feeling in his stomach. The furniture was still here. So she wasn’t gone, yet. Then he found her note on the refrigerator door. 

**_“Dear Evan,_**

**_I’m not going to go on waiting. I know you’re tired of hearing me scream about commitment. I can see that you like everything the way it is now, so I’m going to leave and save both of us the hassle._ **

**_I’ll pick up my other things as soon as I get settled._ **

**_Jodie_ **

“She moved out,” he said to the empty apartment as he sat down heavily on the kitchen chair. Jodie’s note slid to the floor as he rested his head in his hands. Slowly his gaze turned to the bedroom door and to the pen sitting on his desk. His words from his journal came back to his mind and echoed in Jodie’s letter. They were almost identical. She used nearly all of his phrases. He half ran to his bedroom and went to his desk, the drawer was still locked and in the hidden pocket of his Granddad’s old fishing hat, the key lay. Jodie didn’t even know about the hat having a hidden pocket. Then that could only mean…….? That pen. He looked back at the desk. “Nah,” he muttered, “I don’t believe it. This isn’t Bizarro World.” He quickly dismissed the idea of a _magic pen._ “I need a cup of coffee.”

______________________________________

At work on Monday, the buzz was all about the vacancy left by Joanna. That afternoon Jeff asked Evan if he was going to send a resume upstairs for the IT Supervisor position.

“Maybe,” Evan lied. With the event of Saturday, he hadn’t given a single thought to work or an advance in his career. Now, it seemed a good direction to move into, to take his mind off Jo - other things. 

That night, he wrote again in his journal. _I applied for the IT supervisor position at work. I am more talented, smarter and more knowledgeable that_ _any other candidate for the job. My boss and HR think I’m perfect for the job._

Getting to work early the next morning, Evan came face to face with the HR Recruiter. She smiled and he turned to look behind him. She usually just ignored him in the elevator on the rare days that he saw her. She called Jeff if she had any IT issues. 

“Excuse me, you work on the second floor in the IT department, don’t you?” she asked him with a wide, ultra white smile. “Isn’t your name Evan?”

He was surprised that she seemed to know him. “Yes, Evan Sawyer,” he replied looking around.

“Hi Evan. My name is Elaine. I’m with the HR department and I have some exciting news for you.”

______________________________________

It was like a dream, Jeff had just come in to congratulate Evan in his new office. Two hours ago he had been interviewed by the COO himself and made such a great impression, they gave him the job without even interviewing anyone else! The other two candidates had been with the company longer than he had and they sure as hell knew more about IT than he did. But _he_ got the job. 

He knew for sure it was the pen this time, _what else could it be_? _Where did this pen come_ _from?_ _What genius had made it?_ He stopped by the antique store, but Violet didn’t know any more about it. He tried looking on the Web. There were glass pens, but none like his. 

As he entered his apartment building, he met a new neighbor moving in next door. Molly. He introduced himself and helped her move some of her heavier furniture. She was funny, friendly and a gorgeous redhead. After a shower, a quick sandwich and a beer, Evan decided to test out his pen again. He sat down at his desk, opened his journal, picked up his pen and began to write. _Molly thinks I’m sexy and interesting. She thinks she_ _would be very lucky_ _to have me_ _as her_ _boyfriend._ Evan shut the journal and laid the pen gently down beside it.

Hopping into bed with a laugh, he closed his eyes and thought of Jodie. His eyes opened wide and stared through the window to a light in the neighboring building. _I forgot to shut the_ _damn curtains_ was his last thought before falling into a deep sleep.

Work was getting tricky. He had to go online and read up on the company that he had worked at for six years. He needed to talk to Jeff about some internal tech calls he had not taken care of right last week. What a hassle.

He was tired when he was pulling out the keys to his front door and found Molly waiting outside it for him.

“Hi Evan,” she greeted. “Hope I’m not bothering you, but I’m new to town and wanted to know if you wanted to join me for dinner tonight?”

 _Thank you pen!_ Evan gave a big grin and Molly smiled back, her large green eyes lighting up. “Thanks Molly. Let me just get out of my work clothes and how about I meet you in half an hour?” She nodded and went back into her apartment “My door will be unlocked, Evan.”

At dinner, Molly repeated almost verbatim what he had written in his journal the night before. She laughed at all his jokes and really seemed to be enjoying his company. He couldn’t believe the date or his luck in finding that pen.

After his amazing night, Evan sat at his desk and knew exactly what he was going to write next. The last few weeks had been all around incredible. His pen was going to write the next part of his future. _Jodie….Jodie, you should have stuck with me_ , he thought with a laugh.

The next day, he was made Marketing manager. He knew almost nothing about marketing. So he got a few books on marketing strategies to keep for reference that he hid in his desk drawer. Leaning back in his chair, he realized there was nothing he couldn’t do, be or have. He wanted a new car? He won a new Jaguar in a raffle from a large dealership. 

It had become more important than ever that he keep up the daily entries in his journal. Evan had even started bringing his pen and journal to work for safe keeping. He wrote about all the things he wanted that his pen would bring him. 

_____________________________________

Away from the prying eyes of his co-workers, most of them didn’t even seem to want to talk to him anymore because they were jealous. Evan stood in front of the mirror in his new favorite work getaway – the executive bathroom. 

“You don’t need those guys,” he said to himself, “You have a great job, brand new car and a gorgeous girlfriend who is crazy about you.” That part made him feel better. He laughed, but then stopped short and looked in his eyes. _It’s like a dream, Evan._

Then things started to get a little hairy. Molly suddenly decides one day that she wants to get married. They hadn’t even been together that long. Not as long as he was with Jodie. That nights’ journal entry would care of that and then Molly would be perfectly happy just being my girlfriend.

Getting home late on Saturday, Evan tip-toed quietly up the stairs to avoid seeing Molly. After he was safe behind his locked front door, he sighed. He’d have to stop seeing her soon, she was getting way too clingy. Jodie suddenly swam into his thoughts and he smiled. She had her own life outside of his. Three times a week, she’d meet up with her friends for a movie, lunch or shopping.

He felt awake after his shower. Munching on the previous nights’ take-out, he walked to his desk. Searching the drawer for his pen and journal, he began to panic. Then with relief he remembered it was at work. Although he felt odd not being able to write tonight, he knew it was safe in his office. _No one would touch anything on_ _my desk._

He arrived to work early the next morning. Startled to find his office door open, he walked in quickly and saw the COO putting some files on his desk. Evan was tired, but managed a hearty “good morning”. The man jumped and scattered the files across his desk and Evan couldn’t get to his pen in time. It fell off the table, hit the chair leg and rolled to a stop under his desk. 

“Oh, Evan, you surprised me. Sorry about the mess. Here, let me help you,” he offered apologetically. 

Evan forced his voice to remain calm and natural sounding. “That’s all right, Mr. Atherton. Here, I can get it all.” 

Once he was alone, Evan picked up the pen carefully. There was a small crack in the end. Frantic and worried, he grabbed a note pad and wrote as carefully as possible; _I will win the lottery tomorrow._

He could barely go about his daily routine. He drifted off in _what ifs_ during the meeting and almost made a fool of himself that afternoon in front of his department. He claimed a headache and went home early, his only stop was to pick up a lottery ticket. 

Early the next morning, Evan stood in line at the local corner store. “Good morning, Mr. Peterson.”

The elderly man on the other side of the counter smiled, his eyes squinting through his glasses. “Well, hey there, Evan. Good to see you again. What can I do you for today?”

“I just wanted to check my lotto,” he answered nonchalantly, but put his fists in his pockets and waited, unable to say anything else until he knew.

“Good news Evan! You’re a winner,” Mr. Peterson answered with a wink. “Ten and twenty. One, two, three. There you go. Not a bad haul for a one dollar ticket,” were his parting words which angered Evan.

Evan sat in his car, and caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror. He had dark circles and a haunted look his eyes. “Pull yourself together,” he muttered as his started the car and headed to work.

Evan’s roller coaster ride was over. 

The COO and CEO have decided to give Evan a $15,000.00 settlement and bumped him back down to the IT Supervisor position. “It’s nothing personal, Evan. We just think that the company needs to head in another direction.” _Yeah, and_ _leave me behind._ He couldn’t belive that is was all gone, unless…he could try one last time.

Jeff stopped him in the hallway as he left work. “Hey, Evan. We’ve missed you in IT. It’ll be great to have you back again.” He gives Evan a big smile and wave as he walk out the front door with a whistle on his lips. After today’s disappointment, Jeff’s words helped Evan feel better. They had always been good friends.

Evan walked to his apartment, looking forward to a quiet dinner with Molly. While he fumbled with his keys, his next door neighbor came out. He smiled at Molly, needing her love. She was laughing and a tall, dark man was following behind her, closing the door and locking it with her key ring. Evan stood staring at the pair and Molly turned to him, smiling. 

“Oh, hi Evan! I haven’t seen you in a few days. I’m glad we caught you. I’d like you to meet Jack, the love of my life.” She gushed as her eyes looked up at the tall man. 

The two men shook hands and Evan felt his stomach drop. “Nice to meet you, Jack.”

Molly linked her arm in Jack’s and gushed happily to Evan. “It’s so funny how it happened Evan. Jack and I haven’t seen each other in years, but found each other again yesterday.” 

Jack wrapped his arm around Molly’s waist and smiled down at her “It was amazing. I just sort of woke up and there he was, sitting at the next table all alone.” 

She looked up adoringly into Jack’s eyes and he smiled back. 

“We talked for hours and decided not to let any more time pass. We’re getting married.” 

She met Evan’s eyes again. Molly looked happier now than he had ever seen her look with him.

“Well, Molly I wish you both good luck,” and he really did mean it.

They happy couple waved one last time as they walked out of the apartment building. Evan opened his front door and realized with devastating power what a selfish jerk he had been. Molly hadn’t deserved to be used like that. He had behaved like a crappy excuse for a human, taking advantage of a nice woman like that. And for what? His pride and ego? Not a good enough reason. 

He sat on the sofa, wondering what had happened to him. The person Jodie had loved and wanted. The worst part of what he was had shown itself. He thought of his heartless, greedy behavior and it made him sick.

After a long shower, he sat down with a beer at his desk and re-read his journal. It was really bad. With a sneer on his face, he picked up a paperweight and smashed the pen.

That night, he fell asleep under the quilt with the curtains pulled closed and dreamed. 

The insistent ringing of his phone woke Evan up from a deep sleep. “Hello,” his voice scratched out sleepily.

“Evan, are you awake yet?” asked a voice that he hadn’t heard in months. He sat up in bed. Jodie.

“Yeah,” he said softly, “yeah, I’m awake Jodie. It’s really good to hear your voice. I’ve missed you.” Was this still a dream? Whether it was or not, he wasn’t going to take a chance.

She paused and he hoped she wasn’t just calling to see if she could come and pick up her furniture. He would feel so stupid. “I’ve missed you too, Evan. I was just wandering if, if you’d like to meet me for l-lunch?” Her voice sounded small and unsure.

Evan got up out of bed and was heading to the bathroom when he answered her excitedly. “I would like that, Jodie. When and where?”

**Author's Note:**

> This is a short story written while I took a writing course. Comments welcome :)


End file.
